The high school kid fired the ball from 30 feet, easy. When it swished through, the FedExForum crowd erupted in glee.

The Ribs — the two basketball hooligans dressed in Rendezvous rib costumes — had been beaten for the first time all season. Twenty-year-old Ben Hubbard and 18-year-old Parker Fleming smoked 'em with a couple of long 3s.

Naturally, Griz fans everywhere immediately set to wondering if Hubbard and Fleming will be busy Wednesday night.

That's when Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder come to town.

"We're just trying to hold on," said Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger, unveiling what could be the new team motto. "Give yourself the maximum chance to win."

Let the record show that Hubbard and Fleming were not needed for Monday's main event, a messy 94-85 victory over the collection of odds and ends that is the Orlando Magic these days.

That's the good news. The bad news arrived on crutches, an hour or so before game time, in the person of Quincy Pondexter, describing the latest misfortune to befall the Griz.

"It was the first play (of the Golden State) game," said Pondexter. "I said, ‘Yo, something's not right.' "

There's another possible team motto.

"It's crazy, it's crazy," said Pondexter.

And another one, right there.

Because it is crazy, and unfortunate, and really kind of grim. Remember when the Grizzlies were dreaming of going back to the Western Conference Finals? Remember when Kyle Veazey wrote a story in this very newspaper about the most anticipated basketball season in the city's history?

Well, never mind. He meant the season with the highest medical co-pay.

Marc Gasol is out with a bum knee at least until late January. Ed Davis and Tony Allen were out again Monday night. So when Joerger got the news about Pondexter's season-ending injury, he reacted the same way you probably reacted.

"What the heck, not another one," he said. "Really? C'mon, really?"

Yes, really, Dave.

And yet the season must go on, even if the outlook has changed. Once, the goal was to finish as one of the top four seeds in the West. Then, the goal was to hang around .500 until Gasol gets back, then make a playoff push. Indeed, I suppose that still is the goal, but it's feeling more and more remote.

Monday's game didn't supply much in the way of reassurance. Yes, the Grizzlies won. They didn't allow the Magic to get a single offensive rebound in the first half. They hit 10 3-pointers, which was nice for a change.

But Orlando was playing the fifth game of a six-game road trip, having lost the previous four games by an average of nearly 17 points a game. The Magic are aiming to win the NBA lottery. They appear to have what it takes. The Grizzlies are still trying to win actual games.

To that end, Joerger reached deep into his sorting hat, and came up with all sorts of lineups you wouldn't have imagined at the start of the season. Like this one: Mike Conley, Nick Calathes, Mike Miller, Tayshaun Prince and Jon Leuer. Or this one: Calathes, Jamaal Franklin, Miller, Kosta Koufos and Leuer.

"You just have to get a little creative," said Joerger, which may be the understatement of the year.

To be fair, Leuer was excellent, with his first career double-double (16 and 12) off the bench. Franklin wasn't bad, either, with eight points, three rebounds and some vigorous defense on Arron Afflalo along the way.

But nobody will confuse Monday's Grizzlies with the Grizzlies they expected to see when this campaign got started. Nobody is pretending it hasn't been a dispiriting series of blows.

"It's tough to see all the injuries," said Pondexter. "It's just one of those bugs that's going around the city. "